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Well alright, it doesn’t suck, but it could definitely use some work. I figured this out when I read through a 1500 word chapter the other day and found about twelve uses of the word “though”.

I supposed it’s a bit unfair, though, (<–hah) because that word only has so many synonyms. It’s worse when you have people repeating actions. In your head, they nod a lot because they agree with what’s happening. On paper, you start asking yourself why your characters have suddenly turned into bobble-heads.

These are some of the actions I constantly find my characters repeating:

Smirking

Raising an eyebrow

Grabbing (why is there so much grabbing!)

Eyes widening

Eyes narrowing

Eyes blinking once to express confusion, disbelief, and/or bemusement

Fingers curling into fists

SHRUGGING.

So much shrugging.

There used to be a time where I would sit down to write a scene and a million different actions would come to mind to express amusement, or loftiness, or frustration. I’d have a mental list that was ten concepts long for actions denoting fear. Gradually, they became lists of five, then three, and then finally, the universal sign for fear simply became “Eyes widening” or “Heart pounding”.

But why? Why has my vocabulary of actions suddenly become so shit?

Because I’m not reading.

This is in no way sudden. Recently I’ve been so focussed on life and school and getting my own manuscript polished up that I haven’t had the chance to sit down and really read for enjoyment. It’s at the point where when I do read, I’ll come across things like “She looked at him sidelong,” sit up in excitement, and say, “I remember that! How could I forget that?” Then I’ll go back to my own MS and a few weeks later, while doing some quick once-over revisions, I’ll find that after so many pages into the story everybody begins to look at people sidelong. Then I’ll start yelling at them that they have necks for a reason and get frustrated with all my characters enough to scrap whole scenes. All because of my over-enthusiasm for remembering an action I’d forgotten.

Never before have I been so convinced that in order to write, you constantly have to read. Not that you can’t write if you don’t read, but your vocabulary will be much less rich. Sure, you can look up words and synonyms in dictionaries and thesauri but actions are far more complex. Describing an action you’ve never seen described before can be really hard. And like with everything else, it doesn’t hurt to have a few examples before trying. Some really great writers, I find, are ones who not only have a compelling story, but who know how to briefly describe shrugging without once using the word “shrug”.

And while you’re reading, observe people. Remember that your actions aren’t the only actions that exist. Some people facepalm, others run their fingers through their hair. I can’t stress enough how much watching real-life characters can help you develop the ones in your book.

But before this turns into an article about the finer points of stalking, let me impart to you this last bit of personal, opinionated, and always biased advice:

Don’t overdo it. There are only so many times you can get away with “The corners of his lips curved upwards into a crescent” before the reader starts shouting at you to “Just say he smiled!”

Different and innovative is awesome. Sometimes, though, simple packs as much of a punch.

~~~

Biljana Likic is an aspiring author, currently revising her first novel, TIME IS A FUNNY THING. She’s going into her second year of university, where she can’t wait till she’s out so she’ll finally have all the time in the world to write. You can visit her blog and follow her on Twitter.

31 Responses to “Don’t shrug this off.”

oh, so true. i’m also convinced that in order to think well, one must read. when i’m reading a lot, not only is my writing and command of language more precise, but my thoughts and non-creative-writing-ish pursuits are also more nuanced.

Great post!! I am sooooooooo the same. My first drafts (um, and let’s be honest, my later drafts too) are riddled with those bland actions.

I try to come up with new ones, and I actually have an action tag “thesaurus” that I’ve been building for a few years now. Anytime I think/read/see a good action, I add it to the specific emotion it expresses. Of course, I’ve MADE this darn thing and constantly update it, but I never seem to really USE it. ::sigh::

I’m glad you wrote about this because when I was just starting to write, I didn’t even know I was doing anything wrong!!

I love this post! Sometimes when I’m reading there will be a really cool action and I jot it down so I can remember it. I notice a lot of my characters either smirk, narrow their eyes, or shrug their shoulders.

Gee Billy, how about you write characters that aren’t such greedy grabbers? 😉

I totally have this same problem if I don’t read. I was reading a book last night, and it was a paranormal adventure about a demon-fighter, and even that book had descriptions for the sky that were completely lovely and unique. And it made me realize that I wasn’t being as creative in my descriptions as I could have been.

Yeah there are times when I look at what I write and wish it was prettier :P. It’s been a while since I felt like a description I wrote was perfect for what it was, you know? Hopefully though that’s just because of how many times I’ve been rereading the MS!

M. Howalt nodded in agreement. “This was a really good post with some good points. Don’t you all agree?”
The imaginary audience (enlisted to prove a point) nodded.
“Alright,” M. Howalt said with a nod. “If I say that I am never guilty of having my characters repeat the same gestures, would you say that I am right or … nod?”
Ahem. Great post! I do know the feeling (you can gprobably guess which word I overuse), and I also think that reading helps. 🙂

Try “inclined his head”. I think once I was so desperate that I wrote “brought his chin to his chest” and it sounded like a stretching exercise. After some hearty laughter at my expense, I deleted it quickly the next day when I found it again.

All my characters are constantly nodding, blinking, frowning and smirking. Before I learnt that “said” was a perfectly adequate dialogue tag, they used to remark, announce, declare and exclaim a lot too. Glad to know I’m not alone 😛

I have similar problems, but I think my issues are founded on the fact that I haven’t read enough. At 15, I’ve only been reading for about 8 years, and there’s only so much a person can get through in that time! I have noticed that whenever I’ve finished a classic, my prose is more poetic and visual. Similarly, I write differently when I’ve just finished a book by John Green. My reading hugely affects how I write!

Yeah, sometimes I find that I have to take a writing break after reading a particularly good book or else I’ll start copying the writing style. I write first person past and after reading the first Hunger Games book it took me SO LONG to shake off first person present.

This was really useful – I don’t think I really noticed how much my characters shrugged and smirked before. I’ll have to have words with them.

Great point about reading to help your own vocabulary as well. I think it’s important to read while you write, even if sometimes you do find yourself copying the writer’s style (which I’m relieved to see isn’t just me!) I also find it really helpful for the way the structure and develop the story as well, and how they lead you through it by the nose sometimes.

Great post! I am a shrugger and a head shaker. Always I need to go through my MS and weed these out. It’s good though to understand our crutch actions so we can eradicate and really think up something new (yet recognizable!) as an expressive.

Great post! My characters raise their eyebrows so often they’re in danger of being mistaken for Spock. My crit group now giggles if they see it anywhere in my writing. You are so right though. Life’s been busy and I’ve let my reading slip. My vocab also sucks. Thanks for this. I needed it.